The Way of Ranmaru
by the mighty lu bu
Summary: Ranmaru Mori stands loyally as he fights against the traitors of his lord in his final battle, to show the world what what loyalty really is. This story has blood and gore in it.


This Body is a Sword, This Place, a Burial Ground.

By the Mighty Lu Bu

I don't own Samurai Warriors, and I'm pissed that KOEI released SW3 only on the Wii; I don't own a Wii!

Ranmaru stood ready with his sword. His lord was inside the burning castle. He knew that the Oda would not leave, but that didn't stop him from defending his lord. He knew his lord was going to die, and thus he, Ranmaru was going to die with his lord.

But he was going to go out like a true warrior. With a sword in hand, surrounded by the corpses of his enemies. This is the way of the samurai. The enemy came rushing as his long sword was readied. With a swing, the soldiers in front of him were disemboweled. Ranmaru shouted in his high feminine voice, "This body is a sword, and this place, a burial ground. Those who wish to die, come forth!"

The soldier's laughed at his voice as they began to charge, but Ranmaru wasn't bothered. A simple swing of his sword took the heads of four soldiers who charged at him. Another swing slashed the chest of three more soldiers.

Ranmaru began to move with the speed of lightning as the soldiers now began to try to swarm him. He turned left, piercing through the bodies of two soldiers, then removing his sword and taking the arm of another attacker.

Ranmaru twisted his body around as blood shot through the air. He wouldn't be stopped, and they wouldn't touch him. This place was a burial ground, for his enemies, for the enemies of Lord Nobunaga.

Behind he could feel the heat of the fires burning, he did not know if his lord still lived, but he did know what to do for his lord as slayed three more attackers. A spear unit moved into position to try to defeat Ranmaru, but they could not stand before him as the tips of their spears were sliced off, followed quickly with sharp cuts that removed each their heads from their body.

Ranmaru stood their covered in the red blood of his enemies as the soldiers kept coming. There would be no easy victory for them. They may slay Ranmaru, but not without a price.

Ranmaru sliced four soldiers across the abdomen, spilling their guts on the stone steps as ash from the fire covered their remains. Ranmaru shouted as she slashed the ribs another five soldiers, this would be his great hour.

The enemy would know what true loyalty looks like when they were done. And what of loyalty, the enemy was made up of soldiers belong to Mitsuhide Akechi. A traitor to lord Nobunaga, one who has served but now only lives to betray his lord.

Ranmaru sent his blade through the face of a soldier as he thought of Mitsuhide, the man who trained him, and his great friend, as a traitor. He never would have seen it coming. Who is left in the world that knew true loyalty?

But Ranmaru knew that someone had to show what loyalty and devotion was all about, that's why he stood there by his lord, in front of his burning castle which housed the probably already dead lord of the Oda.

This body was a sword, a sword of valor in a world that has forgotten the meaning of the word. But Ranmaru would be its teacher. It would not be forgotten why he fought today, not ever. Ranmaru turned into another swing as he killed three more soldiers.

Even great warriors get tired. They are only mortal, but fatigue would not stop him, only the dead may rest on this battlefield. But it could not stop his muscles from aching as the soldiers got closer and closer to landing that brutal, final, fatal blow.

Ranmaru refused to quit however as they just kept coming, she knew they would not stop. The ranks of the enemies had become swollen with men who did not understand what true loyalty was. The world did not need their kind.

Ranmaru took a scratch on the hip, but he twisted and removed the sword hand of the soldier who had managed to make contact. The fear was radiating from the bodies of his enemies. Their treacherous hearts could not handle the sight of real loyalty, and the true power that Ranmaru derived from it.

But all that power could only extend so far as the tip of a spear cut open the cheek of the valorous Ranmaru. He would not stop, he could not stop. Not for any enemy in the world. That was his mission, that was who he was, that's what a true vassal does for his lord.

But even he could not defeat the mathematics of the enemy as he stumbled back a step. A blade had sliced into the meaty portion of his thigh. He was bleeding badly.

But still he fought on, less agile do to the wound but still as fierce as ever. His body was a sword, and this place was burial ground. His burial ground. A volley of arrows rained down on him. An arrow shot into his right shoulder, another nicked his ear, and a third stuck into his foot and a forth pierced his left hand.

The pain was overwhelming as Ranmaru's body shuddered. The men shouted, "He's weakened! Kill him!" Ranmaru stared up as drops his enemies blood hung down from his chin. He gritted his teeth for one last show of valor. One last display to the cowards that charged him, what true loyalty really was.

With a great and final effort he swung his sword into the bodies of his attackers one last time. Killing four in the process, but a fifth stuck his sword out as it severed Ranmaru's arm off at the elbow. The sword of Ranmaru flew through the air, impaling itself into the chest of another enemy.

Blood sprayed on the stone floor, and the fires still burned behind him. He was unarmed and dying. But that wasn't enough to make him surrender. A soldier charged at him with a sword. Ranmaru blocked the sword arm with his good arm, he then leapt onto the man with maddening strength as he sunk his teeth into the throat of the attacker. He was unarmed, and yet he killed another enemy, because this was the way of the Samurai.

The way of Ranmaru did not include surrender. He would not surrender as the blood poured from the jugular of the soldier he had just attacked. He turned ready to jump on the nest man as the sword came down on him, severing Ranmaru's head from his body.

Ranmaru's headless body fell to the ground as the life drained away. Only in death did Ranmaru finally stop. For that was the way of the Samurai, the way of Ranmaru.


End file.
